Ken Ludwig’s retro-farce Leading Ladies brings a light comedy to the stage of Sunset Playhouse. Mike Owens and Brandon C. Haut play a couple of struggling British actors on tour in the U.S. in 1958. Slipping into desperation from the emptiness in their wallets, the two actors are forced to impersonate a couple of women in hopes of collecting a substantial inheritance.
Owens summons serious passion as Leo, a man forced to become a woman as he is falling for a woman who doesn’t realize that she is falling for him. Stephanie Pluta has a wistful charm as Meg, an heiress who stands to inherit a fortune along with her two cousins. The actors’ schemes to make off with some of her money stumble as they discover that she has a deep love for the theater. Haut is appealingly stern as Jack. The more reluctant of the two actors, Jack finds inspiration in the arms of a college girl named Audrey who the two men meet on a train. Sarah Briana Monahan is delightfully playful as Audrey. Monahan’s enjoyable comic grace is first seen when she glides around the stage in roller skates.
Director Michael Pocaro has a firm grasp of what makes a farce work. The pacing begins slow and gradually increases as the plot launches into greater and greater complexity with a large ensemble of small-town characters. The comedy lightly dances through the importance of love and honesty in a story that isn’t weighted down with heavy satire that could have easily accompanied a story about lies and attempted larceny. It’s a fun couple of hours at the theater.
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Through June 23 in Sunset Playhouse’s Furlan Auditorium, 700 Wall St., Elm Grove. For tickets, visit sunsetplayhouse.com or call 262-782-4430.
